Prop. 30: Schools, colleges win reprieve from dire cuts

Orange County's public schools, colleges and universities will avoid a shorter school calendar, scores of furloughs, increased student fees and millions of dollars in other cuts to programs and services following the passage of Proposition 30.

Voter approval of Gov. Jerry Brown's tax initiative, which temporarily raises the sales tax and income taxes on wealthier individuals, primarily to support schools, means the county's 28 school districts won't have to lop as much as four weeks from the school year as part of worst-case fiscal scenarios.

Students at Cal State Fullerton, the county's largest university, will have their tuition rolled back by 9 percent, and the campus will scratch a proposed enrollment reduction of up to 2,000 students planned for fall 2013.

At UC Irvine, the county's only UC campus, tuition will remain flat, and the threat of a midyear tuition hike of as much as 20 percent has fallen by the wayside.

"We are all breathing a big sigh of relief," said Wendy Benkert, associate superintendent of business services for the county Department of Education. "Prop. 30 will keep funding levels flat. But without it, local K-12 schools would have had to cut a combined $217 million."

KINDERGARTEN THROUGH 12TH GRADE

Several local school districts had proposed shrinking the school calendar through employee furloughs to help offset cuts had Prop. 30 failed.

La Habra City School District and Brea Olinda Unified had planned to cut instruction days down to 160, the lowest level allowed by the state, had Prop. 30 failed.

In Capistrano Unified, Orange County's second-largest school district, officials had been looking to cut the instructional year by 15 days, as well as require teachers to take a 12.9 percent pay cut. Prop. 30's passage means the district will cut five instructional days and teachers will take a 6 percent pay cut.

"We are very glad we don't have to implement the trigger cuts that were built into our budgets," district spokesman Marcus Walton said. "This means our students won't have an additional 10 days of instruction cut from the school calendar, and it means we won't need to reduce employee pay more than we already have."

Not all O.C. school districts, however, had settled on plans to slash employee pay or shorten the school year if Prop. 30 failed.

Saddleback Valley Unified prepared one main spending plan earlier this year that called for four fewer instructional days and other pay cuts; both the district and its labor unions said they would revisit the plan once Prop. 30's fate was known, said trustee Suzie Swartz.

Had Prop. 30 failed, the cuts might have been more severe than the existing plan; with Prop. 30's passage, Saddleback may try to undo some of the existing cuts

"I certainly hope we'll be able to move forward and find ways to restore the school year and lower class sizes," Swartz said. "I wish we were in better shape, but at least we're not in worse shape."

HIGHER EDUCATION

The California State University and the University of California systems will each avoid a projected $250 million midyear budget cut, and each also will receive an extra $125 million next year as part of a deal Brown made to prevent tuition increases.

The systems had planned a combination of tuition hikes, job cuts and reduction of services in response in case Prop. 30 failed. The 400,000-student CSU system had planned a 5 percent tuition hike, or $150 per semester.

But CSU will instead rescind an increase of 9 percent, or $498 annually, approved last year. Students will pay $5,472 annually.

Students will be reimbursed $249 in fees they paid for the current semester, or they will receive a credit they can apply to next semester's fees, officials said.

CSU will also erase a plan to cut enrollment systemwide by 20,000 for next fall. The cut at Fullerton, with about 37,000 students, would have amounted to a reduction of 1,500 to 2,000 students.

"This is a clear win for those who support higher education," said Cal State Fullerton junior Alana Huerta. "College affordability remains elusive for many following years of fee hikes. But every dollar helps."

The 10-campus UC system threatened to raise undergraduate tuition by up to 20 percent if Prop. 30 lost.

Now, UC won't face a $250 million cut this year, and the $125 million sweetener means tuition won't go up this year.

But UC tuition hikes for next year are still on the table. UC spokesman Steve Montiel said officials don't know yet whether they'll receive the state funding necessary to stave off tuition hikes in 2013-14.

"The governor hasn't proposed a budget for 2013-14, so it's too early to say," Montiel said.

Earlier this year, UC officials had projected needing to implement about a 6 percent tuition increase in 2013-14 to stay in the black.

But if the state Legislature agrees to make up that budget hole with additional state funding, UC might be able to avoid tuition increases next year as well, Montiel said.

California's community colleges, meanwhile, would have been forced to serve an estimated 180,000 fewer students if Prop. 30 had failed, officials said. The colleges also would have been forced to pare course offerings and lay off staff, the chancellor's office said.

With Prop. 30's passage, officials say, the system will be able to serve 20,000 additional students, using an additional $210 million in state funding.

CAUTIOUS OUTLOOK

Many educators caution that schools still face financial hurdles. Rising costs, built-in salary increases and other factors mean schools still need to trim.

"Our situation is simply less dire than it was yesterday," Santa Ana Unified Chief Business Officer Michael Bishop said. "We can't forget that we're still operating on funding that's 78 cents on the dollar of what it should be."

The county's largest district, with 57,000 students, is among several that are already planning on deficits for 2013-14. Santa Ana could cut $10 million to $15 million next year. The district will also take out a $70 million loan, an amount equal to one-sixth of its total budget, to cover deferred state payments.

"We need the California economy to get back on track," Bishop said. "It's the only way we're going to get out of this budget-cutting cycle we've been in for several straight years."